She struggled to juggle the multiple shopping bags in her hands, nearly dropping one as she pressed the passcode to enter the apartment.
The door creaked open, and she nudged it wide with her hip, the bags wobbling.
"Morning, Dad," she greeted, stepping carefully to avoid dropping anything as she tried to close the door behind her.
Her father was seated on the couch, holding a cereal bowl.
He raised his hand in a lazy wave without looking away from the TV screen. "Morning, sweetheart."
"You weren't around when I woke up. Where have you been?" he asked, reaching for the remote on the coffee table.
"I went shopping," she said, placing the bags on the table, careful not to tip anything over.
He glanced up, finally noticing the array of shopping bags. "Shopping?" His eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. "It's only 11 a.m. Where exactly did you find to go shopping this early?"
He resumed mixing his cereal, the spoon clinking softly against the bowl as he waited for her response.
She started unpacking, lifting a purple, silk-wrapped bag with a hint of pride.
"The Upstate" she explained, pulling out neatly wrapped packages and setting them aside.
He paused, spoon halfway to his mouth. "Upstate?" He shook his head, his tone a mix of disbelief and amusement. "Let me get this straight—you went shopping in the Upstate?"
"Well, not exactly." She turned, her face lighting up as she continued, "I went with my friends from school. I just helped them carry a few things… and they bought all of this for me in return."
Her father let out a short laugh. "Of course they did. Rich kids with more money than sense. Let them throw it around if they want to."
She shot him a half-hearted glare, detecting the trace of sarcasm in his voice.
"Dad, not everyone in Upstate is like that. They're having a big event coming up, so they had to get some things for it."
He scoffed, his attention now divided between the cereal, his show, and their conversation.
"Excuses, darling. That's all I'm hearing."
Rolling her eyes, she decided not to continue.
She knew how her father was once he started, and it would only prolong the conversation if she let him ramble.
She set aside a bag and turned toward a closed door down the hallway.
"What about my brother?" she asked, casually glancing at his door.
"Still asleep," her father replied, his gaze shifting from the television to the door as well. "As usual."
"Seriously? How much longer does he plan on spending indoors?" She placed her hands on her hips, eyebrows raised in mild exasperation.
"Cut him some slack, Sal," her father sighed. "The boy's been in a coma for years. Just waking up knowing he's back with us is a blessing. Let him rest."
"That's the thing, Dad." She crossed her arms, her eyes fixed on the door.
"He's already spent all that time lying down. Now that he's awake, he should get up and do something… anything really aside from staying indoors all day long."
Her father watched her as she stepped toward her brother's door, determination in her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"What I should have done a month ago when he first woke up," she said with a grin, resting her hand on the doorknob. "Taking him out of his comfort zone"
She knocked gently. "Brother?" she called softly.
---
Inside his room, Aldrich stood still, staring at the mirror, disbelief evident in his eyes.
He leaned in closer, as though inspecting his reflection might somehow reveal something new.
But nothing changed.
Long, untamed silver hair framed his face—strikingly sharp, almost beautiful, and unfamiliar even to him.
His gaze held steady, slowly tracing the contours of his own face, a slight frown forming.
"Yeah… still the same. Never gets any less strange, no matter how many times I look."
With a heavy sigh, he turned away, letting his fingers graze the edge of his bed before crossing the room and opening his door.
The memory of his old life and the fragments of his new one drifted through his mind—a bizarre combination that made everything feel out of place yet oddly familiar.
He stared at the ceiling as he walked, the roof overhead strangely distant and yet nostalgic.
Two lives intertwined, memories from both overlapping.
On Earth, he was a skilled archer until the accident took his strength.
Here, he was… Aldrich, the man who had been asleep for five long years.
It was an odd feeling, like being in two places at once.
The world he found himself in now felt somewhat similar to Earth but… not quite.
The world's structure, the way it worked, all felt vaguely familiar, like the novel he'd been reading before—Arthdal Chronicles.
This world matched the setting almost perfectly as if he'd stepped right into the pages.
In this new reality, the year was 2021, but continents were divided into five distinct regions, each ruled by a different race.
Here on the human continent, called Eldorado, society was split between two orders—the National Order, which mirrored the modern-day system he knew from Earth, and the Mystic Order, where the supernatural mingled with everyday life.
"And I'm… really here." He muttered, excitement and anxiety mixing as he said it aloud. "Inside the novel Arthdal Chronicles."
"Brother?" a female voice called from behind the closed doors, jolting him out of his thoughts.